Thule (Kingdom)
a mysterious kingdom of the Pre-Cataclysmic Age. It was probably analogous to the region known as Nordheim (which included Asgard and Vanaheim) in the Hyborian Age, where the surviving barbarians of Thule came to dwell. | HistoryText = Age of Kull During a week long festival held to celebrate the union of two kingdoms through the marriage of Elise, daughter of the King of Thule, to Rashver, son of the King of Verulia, the rulers of the various nations of the Thurian Continent and the surrounding islands were invited to enjoy King Governi of Thule's hospitality. Kull of Valusia and his retinue, including his chief warrior Brule the Spear Slayer, were among those in attendance, as were Ku-Var, self proclaimed ruler of Atlantis and his woman Iraina. King Governi proclaimed a tournament for the entertainment of his royal guests with each ruler pitting their champion against the others. Finally it came down to Kull choosing his favorite soldier, Brule, and Ku-Var picking his, Iraina. Both the crowd and Kull were amused by a woman being chosen to face the Spear Slayer. Kull told Ku-Var to pick another lest his mistress be killed. Iraina angrily stated she was no man's mistress, but a warrior. Kull indulged the crowd and sent Brule to face her, but he refused to cross spears with a woman. Enraged, Iraina subjected him to a flurry of lightning quick strokes and the Pict's blood flowed. Still, Brule refused to fight her, so she knocked him to the ground and prepared to spear him in the heart. Beseeched by the crowd that the tournament was for amusement only, she spared his life. Iraina made a gift of Brule's life to Kull because they were of the same Atlantean tribe. Brule stalked off humiliated, but before Kull could speak with him, the barbarian king was approached by his old friend, the shaman Ram-Os, now a slave. Before being called away to Ku-Var's side, Ram-Os told Kull of how all the men of the tribe were now slaves, and the women were taken to Ku-Var's harem, all except Iraina, whose ambition knew no bounds. Ku-Var's love for the wild woman drove him to conquer all the world. Kull recalled how Iraina claimed she was no man's mistress, and Ram-Os replied that it was true, and that she locked Ku-Var out of her room. Some days later the festival ended, beneath the full moon, Iraina stood with her lissome army of warrior women, confronting King Governi and the army of Thule. The army of women slowly walked forward to meet them, their tiger skins becoming real stripes, and their eyes turning yellow and slatted. Suddenly, the men of Thule found themselves facing an army not of women but of tigers. The slaughter that followed was swift and merciless. Some time later, in an icy cavern Kull and Gorn rushed Roc of Lemuria and his pirates and freed the kidnapped senators. Great Cataclysm and Hyborian Age The lands of Thule were presumably incorporated into Nordheim, and its people may have been the ancestors of the Vanir and Aesir peoples. | PointsOfInterest = * Bay of Thule * Fabulous ice-caves. * The Great Salt Marsh of the Border Kingdom of the Hyborian Age was possibly a much larger inland sea or an arm of the Western Ocean south of Thule. | Residents = * King Governi * Elise | Notes = * Thule was a real "lost land", and the farther north point of ancient Greek and Roman cartography. It was used in Cthulhu Mythos tales by authors such as Clark Ashton Smith (stated to have "created" it within the Mythos, in "The Double Shadow"), Lin Carter, or Robert E. Howard. | Trivia = | Links = * Thule at Wikipedia * Thule at the H.P. Lovecraft Wiki }} Category:Countries Category:Fictional Countries Category:Seven Empires Category:Cthulhu Mythos Locations